Quad-core Acer Iconia Tab A110 announced, ready to take on the Nexus 7

Acer has announced the Iconia Tab A110, a budget Android tablet with a simila-but-subtly-different specification to the Google Nexus 7, leaving buyers to decide if they want more internal storage space or a higher screen resolution.

It was back in June that we last covered the Acer Iconia Tab A110, a time when the world of budget Android tablets was a very different place. Yes, we had the Amazon Kindle Fire, but the Nexus 7 was nothing but a rumor. Likewise the A110, said at the time to be a 7-inch tablet with a quad-core Tegra 3 and a sub-$200 price tag. Now, a little later than those early rumors suggested, Acer has made the A110 official.

As expected, the A110 has a 1024 x 600 pixel, 7-inch touchscreen and a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor, with a 1.2GHz clock speed. There’s 1GB of RAM and a tiny 8GB of internal memory, but thankfully there’s a microSD card slot to increase this by up to 32GB.

The spec list continues with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 3.0, a micro-HDMI out, a 2-megapixel video call camera above the screen and a 3420mAh battery that should provide 7 hours of use before needing a recharge.

This is all consistent with the spec rumored earlier in the year, however the operating system has been upgraded from Android 4.0 to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

So, the processor, screen size and OS are all identical to the Nexus 7, but the A110’s screen resolution doesn’t quite match up to Google’s HD tablet, however some may see the addition of a microSD card slot and the HDMI-out as an acceptable trade-off.

The A110 measures 11.4mm thick and weighs in at 390 grams, while the Nexus 7 is only 10.4mm thick and 340 grams, however Acer’s tablet has a slightly higher resolution camera than the Nexus 7, but a slightly smaller battery.

This give and take continues with the price, as the Acer Iconia Tab A110 is priced at $229, seeing it slot in between the two Nexus models. Buyers will have to choose between more storage, a better camera and an HDMI-out, over a higher screen resolution, larger battery and a lighter chassis — plus more timely OS updates.

You’ll be able to make your choice on October 30, when Acer’s Iconia Tab A110 will hit US and Canadian stores.